Born and raised in West Texas with family agricultural ties to Quarter Horses, Sheep and goats. He was a very active 4-H member in Pecos County participating in all kinds of projects. He graduated from Fort Stockton High in 1977. He attended Texas A&M University and received his BS degree in 1981 and MS in 1983 both in Animal Science. While at TAMU he judged on the wool and livestock teams and coached the wool team while working on his MS. He worked for Purina Mills after graduation in Southeast Texas. In 1990, he began his Ph.D. studies in Reproductive Physiology. After completion of his degree in December of 1992, he accepted a Post Doc appointment at Massey University in Palmerston North New Zealand. Upon successful completion of his Post Doc he returned to Las Cruces. He worked for the Coulston Foundation in Alamogordo with the great apes and then took a job as Study Director for Southwest Bio Labs in Las Cruces. He joined his wife’s successful Physical Therapy practice in 2001 as the Business Manager and remained there until January of 2009 when he joined the Animal and Range Science Department as the Judging Team Coordinator and Instructor.  He is currently an Associate College Professor who primarily teaches lower level Animal Science course along with swine production.  He has been active in NMSU Faculty Senate representing the Non-Tenure Track Faculty for six years, serves on several University, College and Departmental committees, is a Faculty Fellow for student housing and looks forward to taking students on study abroad trips each year.